North Korea could send more troops to Russia as early as July or August to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers said Thursday, citing the country’s intelligence agency.
According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), North Korea is also continuing to supply weapons to Russia, including artillery shells and missiles. In return, Pyongyang is believed to be receiving technical help for its satellite and missile programs.
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“The additional troop deployment could happen as early as July or August,” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters after a closed-door briefing by the NIS, Reuters reported.
He said North Korea is already preparing soldiers for the mission, and a recent visit to Pyongyang by a top Russian security official supports the agency’s assessment.
Since 2022, Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened economic and military cooperation, marked by a mutual defense treaty signed last November.
Last year, North Korea sent 12,000 soldiers to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, followed by an additional 3,000 this year. The troops supported Moscow’s counteroffensive in Kursk, a western Russian region where Kyiv troops launched a surprise incursion last August and suffered heavy casualties, according to reports.
Pyongyang has also emerged as a key military supplier to Russia in its war against Ukraine. Between August 2023 and March 2025, at least 64 shipments were identified.
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During that time, North Korea sent over 15,800 containers to Russia, containing an estimated 4.2 to 5.8 million rounds of ammunition. The shipments also included a significant number of short-range ballistic missiles, 170mm self-propelled howitzers, and roughly 220 units of 240mm multiple rocket launch systems.
North Korea has defended its military support, saying the cooperation is meant to “ensure peace and stability” in both Europe and Asia.
Following the recent deadly overnight missile and drone attack on June 23, emergency workers confirmed that fragments of a North Korean missile were recovered from the wreckage in Kyiv.
“It was a Korean missile, they just found some parts,” said a firefighter at the scene around 3 p.m. local time, speaking on condition of anonymity as recovery operations continued.
The presence of North Korean missile components marks the latest confirmation of the ongoing military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.
On June 11, Russia reportedly used North Korean ballistic missiles in another overnight onslaught that killed three people in Kharkiv, having also reportedly been used in a June 9 attack.
In April, a North Korean KN-23 (Hwasong-11A) ballistic missile also reportedly struck a residential block in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district.
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